The mission of Philip’s Academy Charter School Newark (also referred to as PACS Newark) is to inspire diverse learners in a rigorous and innovative environment that cultivates resilient leadership, intellectual curiosity, and thoughtful stewardship. Our school’s core values are to provide students with the love and support that they need to build a strong foundation for life. At PACS, we believe that learning happens everywhere, both inside and outside of the classroom. In addition to the academic core, we instill in our students a hunger and determination to forge their own life paths, realize their dreams, and reach their full potential. Accordingly, we promote and recognize the importance of ethical decision-making and the personal values of honesty, integrity, responsibility, tolerance, and service. In sum, we prepare students for entrance into a global society by teaching respect for diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds and, we recognize the unique worth of each member of the school community.

Our educational philosophy is to offer rigorous preparation for higher education in age-appropriate ways. This includes challenging learning experiences presented through individual and collaborative work, homework and classwork, research assignments, assignments that require critical thinking and problem-solving, and extensive reading and writing throughout the curriculum. 

The process of learning math, science, and other parts of the standard curriculum is not limited to those classrooms. It spreads throughout the learning labs, and inside and outside the classroom. When students take part in one of those labs, the kitchen learning lab, for example, and they make purple potato chips, they learn about geography, plant biology, and even chemistry. When they’re harvesting baby kale from the school’s AeroFarm mini farm, or planting and then harvesting cabbage and carrots on the rooftop garden, they learn about the environment and ecology.

Outside the classroom—during recess—students learn emotional and social skills, how to include everyone during play, how to resolve conflicts, even how to be a leader. In the dining room, where students eat family-style, the lessons might be about food literacy, sustainability, and nutrition.